Asian airports bear brunt of pneumonia scare HONG KONG (AP) =97 Asian airports were screening passengers for flu-like=20 symptoms on Monday after the World Health Organization said airline=20 travelers could be spreading a mysterious illness that has killed at least= =20 nine people and infected hundreds in several countries. Some fearful=20 passengers wore surgical masks or covered their faces in the hope of=20 warding off infection. In a rare emergency warning, Geneva-based WHO=20 declared "a worldwide health threat." The outbreak was first reported in=20 Asia and cases have now also been reported in Europe and North America.=20 Doctors know little about the illness, including whether one or several=20 strains of disease is to blame. Some tourists in Hong Kong were seen=20 wearing surgical masks as they left the airport, and travelers arriving at= =20 the international airport in Guangzhou, China, were also wearing masks.=20 "Most are from Taiwan," said a spokeswoman for the Guangzhou Baiyun=20 International Airport in Guangzhou, the commercial center of China's=20 wealthy Guangdong province. "Some are also getting off the plane and simply= =20 covering their mouths with scarves." Hong Kong media reported the price of= =20 masks was rising due to heightened demand =97 echoing a spike in the price= of=20 vinegar last month when people were burning it in the belief it would act=20 like a disinfectant. In Hong Kong, where one victim died last week in a hospital and 42 hospital= =20 workers have fallen ill with pneumonia, the biggest carrier Cathay Pacific= =20 Airways ordered ground staff to turn away passengers who appeared sick. "It= =20 is company policy not to allow any passenger to board an aircraft who is=20 known to be suffering from an actively infectious disease," said Cathay's=20 medical officer, Dr. John Merritt. In Japan, authorities warned airport=20 quarantine stations to be alert for travelers bringing home the mysterious= =20 respiratory illness. Health Ministry official Hiroshi Kobayashi said all=20 suspected cases of the illness should be reported to the central=20 government. Separately, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced three=20 health officials had gone to Vietnam to help authorities there cope with=20 the emergency, in which one hospital nurse has died and at least 31 people= =20 have fallen sick. The Vietnamese nurse died in Hanoi on Saturday, becoming= =20 the latest victim. She is believed to have caught pneumonia in a hospital=20 where several staff were sickened after an American businessman from=20 Shanghai was admitted with the disease. The businessman, who was not identified, reported flu-like symptoms during= =20 a two-day stay in Hong Kong before flying to Hanoi but it is not certain=20 where he caught the disease, said Jimmy Lee, a spokesman of Hong Kong's=20 Health Department. The Hanoi French Hospital was closed and the American=20 man was flown last week to Hong Kong, where he died in a hospital. Most of= =20 the Hong Kong pneumonia cases, however, have been from workers in a=20 different hospital well across town. Philippine health authorities said=20 Monday they are randomly sampling pneumonia patients, and the quarantine=20 bureau is monitoring international travelers to check on possible cases of= =20 the disease. Philippine Health Undersecretary Antonio Lopez also said in a= =20 radio interview Monday that officials were monitoring a Filipino man who=20 may have been in contact with someone sickened by the mysterious flu-like=20 illness while he was in Vietnam. Hong Kong travel agents specializing in=20 package tours for Southeast Asians have reported a 70 to 80 percent drop in= =20 bookings compared to the same period last year due to pneumonia fears,=20 although there have not yet been any cancellations, an industry official=20 said Monday. "This is a worldwide issue, and it will affect tourism=20 globally, not just in Hong Kong," said Joseph Tung, executive director of=20 the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council. Despite calls by some countries for travelers to avoid areas where the=20 disease has been detected, Hong Kong authorities said the city was still a= =20 healthy place to visit and that health officials are doing what they could= =20 to stop the disease from spreading. "Hong Kong is still a safe place," said Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong, Hong Kong's=20 secretary for health, food and welfare. Hong Kong airline Dragonair said=20 Monday that an airport worker was suspected to have caught pneumonia. The=20 worker, employed by a ground-handling subsidiary company, was in a hospital= =20 on Monday, according to a Dragonair spokeswoman who would not say when the= =20 worker became ill or provide any other details. Two people died early this= =20 month in Canada, shortly after arriving from Hong Kong, and four of their=20 relatives were hospitalized. An earlier outbreak of atypical pneumonia in=20 China's Guangdong province killed five people and sickened about 300.=20 Although health officials say the outbreaks appear similar they are not=20 certain what has made the people ill, or if it could be more than one=20 disease strain. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************